US lawmakers call for investigation into BP involvement in release of Lockerbie bomber

US lawmakers are calling for an investigation [press release] into the role that oil company British Petroleum (BP) [corporate website] may have played in obtaining an early release for convicted Pan Am Flight 103 [BBC backgrounder] bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi [BBC profile]. The lawmakers are asking that the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] investigate whether BP played a role in lobbying for the release of al-Megrahi in exchange for a 2007 contract [AP report] with Libya allowing the company to drill in the country's coastal waters. Al-Megrahi, a former Libyan intelligence official, was released from custody [JURIST report] last August on compassionate grounds after being diagnosed with cancer and subsequently returned to his native Libya. His release was controversial, with both US officials and the Scottish Parliament [JURIST reports] condemning his release. In a letter to the committee [text, PDF], Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) [official website] stated that serious questions remain regarding the veracity of medical reports detailing al-Megrahi's health at the time of his release as well as regarding BP's role in the negotiations for his freedom. Lautenberg cites BP's 2007 admission that they, "told the UK ... it was concerned that a delay in concluding a prisoner transfer with the Libyan government might hurt" the oil deal as evidence that further investigation is warranted. The call for a Senate Judiciary Committee investigation comes one week after a group of senators, including Lautenberg, Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) [official websites], urged the British government to conduct a "full, transparent" investigation [press release] into the circumstances surrounding al-Megrahi's release.

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